| Revision as of 09:19, 4 April 2016 editLesbianadvocate (talk | contribs)952 edits The Council is only a reliable source for its own opinions. A different source, written by a third party would be required to support this claim.← Previous edit | Revision as of 18:15, 5 April 2016 edit undoEllenMcGill (talk | contribs)397 edits reverting plagiarism and false and unsourced statements; restoring databox that was deleted for no apparent reason. Please discuss your edits on the talk page.Next edit → | ||
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| The '''American Council for Capital Formation''' (ACCF) is an American ] and lobbying group founded in 1975 by ]. It is located on the District of Columbia's ].<ref> ACCF website.</ref> Mark Bloomfeld and George "David" Banks serve as its current president and vice president, respectively. Journalists have variously described its positions as "free-market,"<ref>Eilperin, Juliet. . ''The Washington Post''. December 20, 2005.</ref><ref name=Henry>Henry, Devin. ''The Hill''. November 10, 2015.</ref> "conservative,"<ref>Guillen, Alex. Politico. April 12, 2015.</ref> or "pro-business."<ref name="Alaska" /><ref>Cowan, Edward. ''The New York Times''. April 12, 1981.</ref> | |||
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| | formation = {{start date and age|1975}} | |||
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| | leader_title = President | |||
| | leader_name = Mark A. Bloomfield | |||
| | leader_title2 = Vice President | |||
| | leader_name2 = George David Banks | |||
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| | mission = ] tax reduction | |||
| | website = http://accf.org/ | |||
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| The '''American Council for Capital Formation''' (ACCF) is an American ] and lobbying group founded in 1975 by ]. It is located on the ]'s ].<ref> ACCF website.</ref> Mark Bloomfeld and George "David" Banks serve as its current president and vice president, respectively. | |||
| The ACCF argues that "a nation’s strength and stability depend upon well-thought-out economic, regulatory, and environmental policies to promote capital formation, economic growth, and a higher standard of living for all."<ref></ref> The group lobbied for the ], which cut ] taxes. The Council supports ending the ban on crude oil exports and a flexible approach to the regulation of greenhouse gases. The Council describes itself as nonpartisan,<ref>Bloomfeld, Mark. ''The Hill''. September 13, 2011.</ref> while journalists generally describe its positions as "free-market"<ref>Eilperin, Juliet. . ''The Washington Post''. December 20, 2005.</ref><ref name=Henry>Henry, Devin. ''The Hill''. November 10, 2015.</ref> or "pro-business."<ref name="Alaska" /><ref>Cowan, Edward. ''The New York Times''. April 12, 1981.</ref> | |||
| ==History== | ==History== | ||
| The Council was founded in 1975 as the American Council on Capital Gains and Estate Taxation. ] founded the Council and |
The Council was founded in 1975 as the American Council on Capital Gains and Estate Taxation. ] founded the Council and acted as its first chairman. Seed money for the Council was provided by the ], a logging concern, and the National Forest Products Association; timber firms were at that time particularly affected by the ] tax.<ref name=Berman>Berman, Elizabeth Popp. ''Creating the Market University''. Princeton, 2012. p. 198.</ref> | ||
| ==Issues== | |||
| ===Revenue Act of 1978=== | ===Revenue Act of 1978=== | ||
| In 1978, Democratic President ] announced his intention to pass tax reform legislation. That year, the ACCF set up a meeting between ], a Wisconsin congressman, and ], an electronics entrepreneur from California. Persuaded by Zschau's case that the doubling of ] taxes between 1969 and 1976 had badly hurt his industry, Steiger put legislation in motion to reset the tax to 1968 levels. The ACCF spoke in support Steiger's measure.<ref>Vogel, David. ''Fluctuating Fortunes: The Political Power of Business in America''. Beard Books, 2003. p. 175.</ref> | |||
| {{main | Revenue Act of 1978}} | |||
| in 1978, Walker's group pushed a bill through Congress that greatly cut capital gains taxes. The Council claimed this would boost financial markets. During this time the Council's board included Democratic "superlawyers" such as ] and Edward Bennet Williams and supply-sider ]. ], a powerful Republican lobbyist, served as president. The Council lobbied intensely for the Act. It released numerous economic studies showing the benefits of the bill. Although the 1978 capital gains tax cut bill (the ]) passed, the predicted economic benefits were never realized. Walker argued that other economic factors were in play; in November 1979 he told the Council's annual meeting that the tax cut had saved the economy from yet worse troubles.<ref name="Bloom"/> | |||
| Carter initially opposed the measure, but by mid-1978 realized that he lacked the political support to defeat it, given widespread popular anger at high taxes and broad support by both parties.<ref name=Kuttner>Kuttner, Robert. ''The Economic Illusion: False Choices Between Prosperity and Social Justice''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987. pp. 52-53.</ref> The tax cut bill (the ]) passed the ] by a vote of 362-49<ref>Francis, Samuel. . The Heritage Foundation. August 22, 1978.</ref> and was signed into law by President Carter.<ref name=Kuttner /> | |||
| The ACCF set up a meeting between ], a Wisconsin congressman, and ], an electronics entrepreneur from California. Persuaded by Zschau's case that the doubling of ] taxes between 1969 and 1976 had badly hurt his industry, Steiger started working to reset the tax to 1968 levels. <ref>Vogel, David. ''Fluctuating Fortunes: The Political Power of Business in America''. Beard Books, 2003. p. 175.</ref> | |||
| Analyzing the Revenue Act in his 2008 book ''The Rise of the Counter-establishment'', Democratic activist ] was sharply critical of the act, arguing that the bill created no actual growth. Walker argued at the time that the bill had spared the economy from a sharper downturn, and reflected a new bipartisan consensus in favor of capital formation: "'You put the question this way: Do you think that American business is putting enough money into new machinery? And they say no. There it is.'"<ref name="Bloom">{{cite book |last=Blumenthal |first=Sidney |date=2008 |title=The Rise of the Counter-establishment: The Conservative Ascent to Political Power |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cbl7YugSoSMC&dq=%22american+council+on+capital+formation%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s |location= |publisher=Union Square Press|page=73}}</ref> | |||
| In his book ''Revolt of the Haves'', ] wrote: "Many of these studies later were shown to be based on unverifiable assumptions about how the market was ''likely'' to respond to a cut in the capital gains rates; yet they were presented as scientific fact, and by the time the liberal economists reassembled their forces and challenged the methodology in the various tax journals, the political battle was over and Charlie Walker's capital formation council had moved on to other issues."<ref name="Bloom"/> | |||
| ==Issues== | |||
| ===Crude oil exports=== | ===Crude oil exports=== | ||
| The Council supported ending the ban on export of crude oil from the United States. Margo Thorning of the ACCF said in response to the refusal of ]'s administration to lift the ban: "The world has changed tremendously since the ban on crude oil exports was put in place over 40 years ago. That is nowhere more evident than in the transformation of our nation's energy landscape from one of scarcity to one of abundance."<ref>Snow, Nick. ''Oil & Gas Journal.'' September 17, 2015.</ref> The Council hosted two policy briefings on Capitol Hill against the crude oil export ban in 2015 - one in May with Senator ] and the other in November with Senator ].<ref>. ACCF. May 20, 2015.</ref><ref>McCoy, Shawn. . ''Inside Sources''. November 28, 2015.</ref> |
The Council supported ending the ban on export of crude oil from the United States. Margo Thorning of the ACCF said in response to the refusal of ]'s administration to lift the ban: "The world has changed tremendously since the ban on crude oil exports was put in place over 40 years ago. That is nowhere more evident than in the transformation of our nation's energy landscape from one of scarcity to one of abundance."<ref>Snow, Nick. ''Oil & Gas Journal.'' September 17, 2015.</ref> The Council hosted two policy briefings on Capitol Hill against the crude oil export ban in 2015 - one in May with Senator ] and the other in November with Senator ].<ref>. ACCF. May 20, 2015.</ref><ref>McCoy, Shawn. . ''Inside Sources''. November 28, 2015.</ref> | ||
| ===Climate change=== | ===Climate change=== | ||
| The Council's stated position on climate change is that "because energy use and economic growth go hand in hand, policymakers should develop a flexible, long-term approach to reducing the growth of greenhouse gases. This requires a global effort based on technological innovation and technology transfer to developing countries where greenhouse gas emissions growth is most rapid."<ref></ref> | |||
| {{main | Climate change}} | |||
| The Council has been active in the climate policy space for the past twenty years. Its stated position is that "because energy use and economic growth go hand in hand, policymakers should develop a flexible, long-term approach to reducing the growth of greenhouse gases. This requires a global effort based on technological innovation and technology transfer to developing countries where greenhouse gas emissions growth is most rapid."<ref></ref> | |||
| While the ACCF is skeptical of climate policies and regulations that impose significant costs on the U.S. economy, the Council does not reject climate-related science. |
While the ACCF is skeptical of climate policies and regulations that impose significant costs on the U.S. economy, the Council does not reject climate-related science. ACCF economist Margo Thorning supported the ] in 2011 and 2012. This bill would have reversed a ] ruling that the ] has authority to regulate ] emissions. In Congressional testimony, Thorning stated that the regulation of greenhouse gases "makes little economic or environmental sense."<ref name="Anthro">{{cite book |last1=Baer |first1=Hans |last2=Singer |first2=Merrill |date=24 April 2014 |title=The Anthropology of Climate Change: An Integrated Critical Perspective |location=United States |publisher=Routledge |isbn=1317817672}}</ref> In 2015, the ACCF joined with an alliance of oil lobbyists and environmental groups to oppose the federal ] mandate.<ref name=Henry /> | ||
| ACCF has opposed efforts to ban public financing of coal plants in developing countries. In a paper published in 2015 on OECD coal plant financing policy, George David Banks, the Council's executive vice president, wrote, "If needed to produce a carbon neutral transaction, the United States should consider attaching domestic or foreign offset requirements, including land use and forests, to a new coal plant."<ref>Banks, George David. . ACCF February 25, 2015.</ref> | |||
| The Council also disagrees with policies that would restrict the export of fossil energy. In 2015, Banks wrote, "Some people, particularly environmentalists, will claim that the United States should not export fossil energy because of climate mitigation concerns. While climate change is a problem that the world needs to address, cutting off U.S. exports of fossil fuels is not the answer. In fact, pursuing such an action only reduces the amount of affordable and reliable energy available to global markets for economic development and poverty eradication efforts, increasing the scarcity of energy resources and worsening related competition between nation states."<ref>Starling, Rosalie.. ''Hydrocarbon Engineering''. July 16, 2015.</ref> | The Council also disagrees with policies that would restrict the export of fossil energy. In 2015, Banks wrote, "Some people, particularly environmentalists, will claim that the United States should not export fossil energy because of climate mitigation concerns. While climate change is a problem that the world needs to address, cutting off U.S. exports of fossil fuels is not the answer. In fact, pursuing such an action only reduces the amount of affordable and reliable energy available to global markets for economic development and poverty eradication efforts, increasing the scarcity of energy resources and worsening related competition between nation states."<ref>Starling, Rosalie.. ''Hydrocarbon Engineering''. July 16, 2015.</ref> | ||
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| ===Charls Walker=== | ===Charls Walker=== | ||
| {{main | Charls Walker}} | {{main | Charls Walker}} | ||
| Walker was the Council's first chairman. He served the administration of President ] as undersecretary of the treasury from 1969 to 1972 and as deputy secretary of the same department in 1973 under ]. Walker was born in Texas and educated at the ], where he received an undergraduate degree and an MBA. He took a PhD from the ]. Walker was a professor, ] staffer, and banking executive for brief periods before becoming executive vice president of the ] in 1961. He retained that position until 1969 when he left to work under Nixon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/charls-e-walker-tax-lobbyist-for-gop-and-big-business-dies-at-91/2015/06/25/51a8cff6-1930-11e5-bd7f-4611a60dd8e5_story.html|title=Charls E. Walker, tax lobbyist for GOP and big business, dies at 91|author=Bart Barnes|date=29 June 2015|work=Washington Post|accessdate=17 March 2016}}</ref> | Walker was the Council's first chairman. He served the administration of President ] as undersecretary of the treasury from 1969 to 1972 and as deputy secretary of the same department in 1973 under ]. Walker was born in Texas and educated at the ], where he received an undergraduate degree and an MBA. He took a PhD from the ]. Walker was a professor, ] staffer, and banking executive for brief periods before becoming executive vice president of the ] in 1961. He retained that position until 1969 when he left to work under Nixon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/charls-e-walker-tax-lobbyist-for-gop-and-big-business-dies-at-91/2015/06/25/51a8cff6-1930-11e5-bd7f-4611a60dd8e5_story.html|title=Charls E. Walker, tax lobbyist for GOP and big business, dies at 91|author=Bart Barnes|date=29 June 2015|work=Washington Post|accessdate=March 17, 2016}}</ref> Walker started consulting after leaving the Nixon administration.<ref name="Times1">{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/us/politics/charls-walker-treasury-official-and-business-lobbyist-is-dead-at-91.html|title=Charls Walker, Treasury Official and Business Lobbyist, Is Dead at 91|date=3 July 2015|work=The New York Times|accessdate=March 17, 2016}}</ref> | ||
| Walker started consulting after leaving the Nixon administration. When he told Nixon that he was leaving government, the president said, "You’re going to be doing what you have been, but now making money at it."<ref name="Bloom"/> Walker described the large companies he represented as "a few mom-and-pop clients." Over the course of his career, these included ], ], and major airlines. Walker established the ACCF in order to provide credibility to his advocacy for big business.<ref name="Times1">{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/us/politics/charls-walker-treasury-official-and-business-lobbyist-is-dead-at-91.html|title=Charls Walker, Treasury Official and Business Lobbyist, Is Dead at 91|date=3 July 2015|work=The New York Times|accessdate=17 March 2016}}</ref> | |||
| While defending the fully tax-deductible "three-martini lunch" in 1977 Walker said, "How could you set a ceiling that would apply both to a small town in Texas, where I recently bought a business lunch for two for $7, and to New York City, where you can pay anything?"<ref name="Times1"/> | |||
| Walker advised John Connally during his brief 1980 presidential campaign. After Connally left the race, Walker joined the campaign of ]. Walker said of himself, "I think I provided the key memo." The memo he referred to offered a rationalization for cutting taxes and general government spending while increasing military spending. His other clients, such as the Business Roundtable, were relieved to know he was close to Reagan, whom they regarded as potentially dangerous.<ref name="Bloom"/> Walker and the ACCF won large cuts in corporate taxes in Reagan's 1981 economics legislation.<ref name="Times1"/> | |||
| His ACCF colleague, Mark Bloomfield, said of Walker, "Charly was the classic caricature of the cigar-smoking super-lobbyist with a limo." ] called Walker "an S.O.B. with elbows." Walker replied, "Where I come from, that’s a term of endearment."<ref name="Times1"/> | |||
| ===Mark Bloomfield=== | ===Mark Bloomfield=== | ||
| Mark A. |
Mark A. Bloomfield is the president and CEO of the Council.<ref name="Bloomfield"> ACCF.</ref><ref name="HillAmb"/> After working on ]'s first presidential campaign, Bloomfield became involved with ACCF after meeting Charls Walker while working as an aide on the House Ways and Means Committee.<ref name="HillAmb"/> Walker and Bloomfield later co-authored the book ''Intellectual Property Rights and Capital Formation in the Next Decade'' (], 1988).<ref>ISBN 978-0819168849</ref> | ||
| Bloomfield is deeply connected to senior Republicans. He worked at the 1972 Republican convention with ]. Bloomfield received this position due to the influence of ], who approved of his role in founding the ], a Republican think tank. Speaking at an ACCF event, Rove retold how he had maneuvered to pick up ] at Union Station. Rove said, “Just think about the consequences if Mark had picked up George W. Bush instead of me.” Bloomfield worked on Reagan's first presidential campaign. Bloomfield became involved with ACCF after meeting Charls Walker while working as an aide on the House Ways and Means Committee.<ref name="HillAmb"/> | |||
| Bloomfield is known for the monthly dinners he holds for members of Congress, business leaders, and journalists. He has been holding these dinners for almost thirty years. Senator Joseph Lieberman called them "Washington's last salon."<ref name="HillAmb">Kaplan, Jonathan E. ''The Hill''. July 26, 2005.</ref> | |||
| Bloomfield is known for the monthly dinners he holds for members of Congress, business leaders, and journalists. He has been holding these dinners for almost thirty years. Senator Joseph Lieberman called them "Washington's last salon", and Senator ] stated that they gave politicians from opposing parties a chance to meet and have "substantive discussions".<ref name="HillAmb">Kaplan, Jonathan E. ''The Hill''. July 26, 2005.</ref> | |||
| Bloomfield authored the book ''Intellectual Property Rights and Capital Formation in the Next Decade'' with Charls Walker. It was published in 1988 by University Press of America.<ref>ISBN 978-0819168849</ref> | |||
| ===George David Banks=== | ===George David Banks=== | ||
| George "David" Banks serves as executive vice president at the ACCF.<ref name="Banks"> ACCF.</ref> | George "David" Banks serves as executive vice president at the ACCF.<ref name="Banks"> ACCF.</ref> Before his position at ACCF, Banks was a senior adviser to President ] on international climate change<ref>Burita, Mike. . ACCF. January 29, 2015.</ref> and then a deputy director of the nuclear energy program at the ].<ref>. Center for Strategic & International Studies. April 15, 2013.</ref> | ||
| At ACCF, Banks has |
At ACCF, Banks has been a strong advocate for energy free trade and constructive U.S. engagement with China. "China-bashing in the context of U.S. energy policymaking will only cause Beijing to become more stubborn in the South China Sea and more aggressive in locking up energy supplies around the globe,” he wrote in November 2015.<ref>Dlouhy, Jennifer A. . ''The Houston Chronicle''. November 5, 2015.</ref> He has also been critical of the ] (RFS), writing in ''The Washington Times'' in February 2016 that "The RFS has plagued the country for years by jacking up food and fuel costs. What’s more, it’s outdated and offers zero environmental benefits. Congress should nix this standard before it wreaks more havoc on the country."<ref>Banks, George David. . ''The Washington Times''. February 8, 2016.</ref> | ||
| Before his position at ACCF, Banks was deputy director of the nuclear energy program at the ].<ref>. Center for Strategic & International Studies. April 15, 2013.</ref> In a 2013 report on uranium enrichment policy, which was covered by '']'',<ref>Wald, Matthew L. . ''The New York Times''. December 5, 2013.</ref> Banks warned, "The U.S. Government is in dire need of implementing policies that support the domestic uranium enrichment industry as a strategic national asset - for defense and commercial purposes.<ref>Banks, George David, and Michael Wallace. . Center for Strategic & International Studies. November 2013.</ref> | |||
| While serving as an aide to Senator ] in 2012, Banks wrote a critical e-mail to energy industry lobbyists that was obtained by the ''National Journal''. Banks wrote: "Moving forward, we—your partners—would kindly ask for better coordination and communication from you to prevent the Obama administration from pulling similar stunts in the future."<ref>Stromberg, Stephen. ''The Washington Post''. May 18, 2012.</ref> Banks was referring to a proposal by the Obama administration to create an interagency working group that would explore federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing. During the administration of ], Banks was senior adviser on international climate change.<ref>Burita, Mike. . ACCF. January 29, 2015.</ref> | |||
| For his work on "climate diplomacy," he received an EPA climate protection award from the Obama administration in 2009.<ref>Viets, Alex. . Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development.</ref> John Coequyt, the ]'s senior climate and energy representative, paid kudos in 2009 to Banks for his climate work, "He was straightforward about what the administration was doing and kept the environmental community in the loop and helped us focus on the areas where we could make progress under the Bush administration."<ref>Quinlan, Paul and Jean Chemnick. . ''The New York Times''. June 9, 2011.</ref> | |||
| ==Funding== | ==Funding== | ||
| The Council is funded by contributions from foundations, corporations, trade associations, and individuals. The ACCF relies in part on donations from |
The Council is funded by contributions from foundations, corporations, trade associations, and individuals. Initially the ACCF's primary donors were timber firms heavily affected by the capital gains tax.<ref name=Berman /> The ACCF relies in part on donations from oil companies like ] and ], receiving at least $1.6 million from the latter since 1998.<ref name="Alaska">DeMarban, Alex. . ''Alaska Dispatch News''. August 12, 2015.</ref><ref name="Green"/><ref>. ACCF.</ref><ref name="Tiger">. ''Mother Jones''. May 2005.</ref> The ACCF has also received some support from ].<ref name="Anthro"/><ref name="Green">{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/climate-deniers/front-groups/american-council-on-capital-formation-accf/|title=American Council on Capital Formation (ACCF)|work=Greenpeace USA|accessdate=March 17, 2016}}</ref> | ||
| The ACCF receives substantial support from ]. ] states that the ACCF received $365,000 in donations from various Koch-controlled foundations from 2005 to 2011.<ref name="Anthro"/><ref name="Green">{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/climate-deniers/front-groups/american-council-on-capital-formation-accf/|title=American Council on Capital Formation (ACCF)|work=Greenpeace USA|accessdate=17 March 2016}}</ref> | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| {{reflist}} | {{reflist|30em}} | ||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 18:15, 5 April 2016
| Formation | 1975; 49 years ago (1975) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Charls Walker |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| President | Mark A. Bloomfield |
| Vice President | George David Banks |
| Website | http://accf.org/ |
The American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) is an American think tank and lobbying group founded in 1975 by Charls Walker. It is located on the District of Columbia's Connecticut Avenue. Mark Bloomfeld and George "David" Banks serve as its current president and vice president, respectively.
The ACCF argues that "a nation’s strength and stability depend upon well-thought-out economic, regulatory, and environmental policies to promote capital formation, economic growth, and a higher standard of living for all." The group lobbied for the Revenue Act of 1978, which cut capital gains taxes. The Council supports ending the ban on crude oil exports and a flexible approach to the regulation of greenhouse gases. The Council describes itself as nonpartisan, while journalists generally describe its positions as "free-market" or "pro-business."
History
The Council was founded in 1975 as the American Council on Capital Gains and Estate Taxation. Charls Walker founded the Council and acted as its first chairman. Seed money for the Council was provided by the Weyerhaeuser Company, a logging concern, and the National Forest Products Association; timber firms were at that time particularly affected by the capital gains tax.
Issues
Revenue Act of 1978
In 1978, Democratic President Jimmy Carter announced his intention to pass tax reform legislation. That year, the ACCF set up a meeting between William A. Steiger, a Wisconsin congressman, and Ed Zschau, an electronics entrepreneur from California. Persuaded by Zschau's case that the doubling of capital gains taxes between 1969 and 1976 had badly hurt his industry, Steiger put legislation in motion to reset the tax to 1968 levels. The ACCF spoke in support Steiger's measure.
Carter initially opposed the measure, but by mid-1978 realized that he lacked the political support to defeat it, given widespread popular anger at high taxes and broad support by both parties. The tax cut bill (the Revenue Act of 1978) passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 362-49 and was signed into law by President Carter.
Analyzing the Revenue Act in his 2008 book The Rise of the Counter-establishment, Democratic activist Sidney Blumenthal was sharply critical of the act, arguing that the bill created no actual growth. Walker argued at the time that the bill had spared the economy from a sharper downturn, and reflected a new bipartisan consensus in favor of capital formation: "'You put the question this way: Do you think that American business is putting enough money into new machinery? And they say no. There it is.'"
Crude oil exports
The Council supported ending the ban on export of crude oil from the United States. Margo Thorning of the ACCF said in response to the refusal of Barack Obama's administration to lift the ban: "The world has changed tremendously since the ban on crude oil exports was put in place over 40 years ago. That is nowhere more evident than in the transformation of our nation's energy landscape from one of scarcity to one of abundance." The Council hosted two policy briefings on Capitol Hill against the crude oil export ban in 2015 - one in May with Senator John Hoeven and the other in November with Senator Cory Gardner.
Climate change
The Council's stated position on climate change is that "because energy use and economic growth go hand in hand, policymakers should develop a flexible, long-term approach to reducing the growth of greenhouse gases. This requires a global effort based on technological innovation and technology transfer to developing countries where greenhouse gas emissions growth is most rapid."
While the ACCF is skeptical of climate policies and regulations that impose significant costs on the U.S. economy, the Council does not reject climate-related science. ACCF economist Margo Thorning supported the Energy Tax Prevention Act in 2011 and 2012. This bill would have reversed a Supreme Court ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency has authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In Congressional testimony, Thorning stated that the regulation of greenhouse gases "makes little economic or environmental sense." In 2015, the ACCF joined with an alliance of oil lobbyists and environmental groups to oppose the federal ethanol mandate.
The Council also disagrees with policies that would restrict the export of fossil energy. In 2015, Banks wrote, "Some people, particularly environmentalists, will claim that the United States should not export fossil energy because of climate mitigation concerns. While climate change is a problem that the world needs to address, cutting off U.S. exports of fossil fuels is not the answer. In fact, pursuing such an action only reduces the amount of affordable and reliable energy available to global markets for economic development and poverty eradication efforts, increasing the scarcity of energy resources and worsening related competition between nation states."
Leadership
Charls Walker
Main article: Charls WalkerWalker was the Council's first chairman. He served the administration of President Richard M. Nixon as undersecretary of the treasury from 1969 to 1972 and as deputy secretary of the same department in 1973 under John Connally. Walker was born in Texas and educated at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received an undergraduate degree and an MBA. He took a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Walker was a professor, Federal Reserve staffer, and banking executive for brief periods before becoming executive vice president of the American Bankers Association in 1961. He retained that position until 1969 when he left to work under Nixon. Walker started consulting after leaving the Nixon administration.
Mark Bloomfield
Mark A. Bloomfield is the president and CEO of the Council. After working on Ronald Reagan's first presidential campaign, Bloomfield became involved with ACCF after meeting Charls Walker while working as an aide on the House Ways and Means Committee. Walker and Bloomfield later co-authored the book Intellectual Property Rights and Capital Formation in the Next Decade (University Press of America, 1988).
Bloomfield is known for the monthly dinners he holds for members of Congress, business leaders, and journalists. He has been holding these dinners for almost thirty years. Senator Joseph Lieberman called them "Washington's last salon", and Senator John E. Sununu stated that they gave politicians from opposing parties a chance to meet and have "substantive discussions".
George David Banks
George "David" Banks serves as executive vice president at the ACCF. Before his position at ACCF, Banks was a senior adviser to President George W. Bush on international climate change and then a deputy director of the nuclear energy program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
At ACCF, Banks has been a strong advocate for energy free trade and constructive U.S. engagement with China. "China-bashing in the context of U.S. energy policymaking will only cause Beijing to become more stubborn in the South China Sea and more aggressive in locking up energy supplies around the globe,” he wrote in November 2015. He has also been critical of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), writing in The Washington Times in February 2016 that "The RFS has plagued the country for years by jacking up food and fuel costs. What’s more, it’s outdated and offers zero environmental benefits. Congress should nix this standard before it wreaks more havoc on the country."
Funding
The Council is funded by contributions from foundations, corporations, trade associations, and individuals. Initially the ACCF's primary donors were timber firms heavily affected by the capital gains tax. The ACCF relies in part on donations from oil companies like ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, receiving at least $1.6 million from the latter since 1998. The ACCF has also received some support from Koch Industries.
References
- "Contact." ACCF website.
- American Council for Capital Formation homepage
- Bloomfeld, Mark. "When a tax cut isn't a tax cut." The Hill. September 13, 2011.
- Eilperin, Juliet. "U.S. Joins Informal Talks on Warming". The Washington Post. December 20, 2005.
- ^ Henry, Devin. "Anti-ethanol group expands national ad buy." The Hill. November 10, 2015.
- ^ DeMarban, Alex. "Think tank: State needs to support Alaska LNG, drop stand-alone pipeline". Alaska Dispatch News. August 12, 2015.
- Cowan, Edward. "The Quiet Campaign to Cut Capital Gains Taxes--To Zero." The New York Times. April 12, 1981.
- ^ Berman, Elizabeth Popp. Creating the Market University. Princeton, 2012. p. 198.
- Vogel, David. Fluctuating Fortunes: The Political Power of Business in America. Beard Books, 2003. p. 175.
- ^ Kuttner, Robert. The Economic Illusion: False Choices Between Prosperity and Social Justice. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987. pp. 52-53.
- Francis, Samuel. "Update on the Revenue Act of 1978". The Heritage Foundation. August 22, 1978.
- Blumenthal, Sidney (2008). The Rise of the Counter-establishment: The Conservative Ascent to Political Power. Union Square Press. p. 73.
- Snow, Nick. "White House not inclined to end crude oil export ban, official says" Oil & Gas Journal. September 17, 2015.
- "ACCF Hosts Congressional Briefing on Crude Oil Exports and Trade Policy". ACCF. May 20, 2015.
- McCoy, Shawn. Gardner: Lifting Ban on Oil Exports This Year Would Ease Tensions. Inside Sources. November 28, 2015.
- ACCF homepage
- ^ Baer, Hans; Singer, Merrill (24 April 2014). The Anthropology of Climate Change: An Integrated Critical Perspective. United States: Routledge. ISBN 1317817672.
- Starling, Rosalie."ACCF highlights impact of energy trade policies on national security". Hydrocarbon Engineering. July 16, 2015.
- Bart Barnes (29 June 2015). "Charls E. Walker, tax lobbyist for GOP and big business, dies at 91". Washington Post. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- "Charls Walker, Treasury Official and Business Lobbyist, Is Dead at 91". The New York Times. 3 July 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- "Mark A. Bloomfield." ACCF.
- ^ Kaplan, Jonathan E. "The ambassador: Mark Bloomfield." The Hill. July 26, 2005.
- ISBN 978-0819168849
- "George 'David' Banks." ACCF.
- Burita, Mike. "ACCF welcomes George “David” Banks as Executive Vice President". ACCF. January 29, 2015.
- "Former White House Advisor on Environmental Quality George "David" Banks Joins CSIS". Center for Strategic & International Studies. April 15, 2013.
- Dlouhy, Jennifer A. China keeping an eye on surging U.S. oil and gas production. The Houston Chronicle. November 5, 2015.
- Banks, George David. "Renewable Fuel Standard deceit". The Washington Times. February 8, 2016.
- ^ "American Council on Capital Formation (ACCF)". Greenpeace USA. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- 2015 Annual Report. ACCF.
- "Put a Tiger In Your Think Tank". Mother Jones. May 2005.